RE:Much better than first ReadSpread 5B is technically challenging....
o you have any particular engineering challenges that are unique or will require innovative solutions? Beyond the typical challenges of a major project development, the Project also has site-specific characteristics that will test this construction team.
- The scope and complexity of construction necessitates meticulous planning to meet the demands of simultaneous work in many areas while mitigating risk.
- The Project is planned during a period that places intense pressure on resources, with other projects in the region competing for the same limited pool of skilled personnel.
Spread 5B also has the following technical challenges:
- Cable crane — Installation of an 18-ton cable crane over the Dry Gulch valley to get pipe and welding equipment up and down the hills.
- Cable winches — Drill and cement bases will be installed to mount cable winches on. These winches are then used to lift and lower large equipment like excavators and bulldozers into the gulch.
- Grade and ditch blasting — There are approximately 1.3 million cubic metres of rock to blast. A lot of this is close to highways, waterways, existing underground facilities and geohazard areas.
- Rock saw ditching units will be used to cut through rock wherever possible.
- Tunnel — Pipeline installation in existing tunnel through steep geohazard areas in the mountains.
- Microtunnelling, an underground or trenchless technology, for highway crossings.
- Four isolated open-cut crossings and one open-cut crossing of the Coquihalla River, plus several other major tributaries.
- Some of the sloped areas are 28-degree side slopes which ‘skinny’s up’, or narrows the working platform, making access a challenge.
While construction poses challenges, MSJV has a corporate and contractual commitment towards responsible environmental and social behaviors that will be the basis of the Project’s sustainability and community legacy.